


Fervenza [HIATUS, NOT ABANDONED]

by bloodyblackrabbit



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, M/M, klance, more angst ;), shallura - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-02-14 18:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13013880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyblackrabbit/pseuds/bloodyblackrabbit
Summary: After a hundred years, the last known airbender of his kind, the avatar of his generation, Aang saved the world from the ongoing war against the fire nation. With his time of fighting at an end, he perished in an era of peace and prosperity for all the nations... and ever since, the avatar cycle has been at a standstill. But perhaps all isn't well in the world just yet. A new force is arising, a strange group of criminals who have a peculiar ability to bend light itself. They become known as the Shadowbenders, a threat to the fragile peace between the nations. As tensions rise, the hunt for the newest Avatar becomes increasingly desperate, and the tribes begin to turn on one another. In an attempt to create his own kind of avatar, an Airbending monk sends out a group of the best benders from each tribe to unite and fight the Shadowbenders together as one. Two airbenders by the names of Allura and Shiro, earthbenders called Pidge and Hunk, a firebender named Keith, and... the only member of the water tribe who was willing to help, a boy with no bending powers by the name of Lance. Together, this unlikely team must fight as one against the force threatening their peace... or risk everything they have, and die fighting.





	1. prolouge

Twenty years.

Was that how long the Avatar's spirit had been trapped in a land of lost souls?

That was what the other spirits seemed to whisper when it passed them by, but to the avatar, it felt like far longer. Twenty long, lonely, wasted years, in a place destined to never see the sunlight. That was kind of tragic, if the spirit had to be honest.

Still... it had waited for a hundred years not long ago. It could wait a little bit longer.

The spirit floated aimlessly through the dark, mist-covered forest that had become a home to the lost spirits of the world. Souls who could not quite find their way into either heaven or hell, souls who had unfinished business left on earth, souls of those who died without even realizing it... it was a sad place, and it smelled of misery and death. Perhaps that was why it felt as if the spirit had spent thousands of years in this dreadful place...

_Twenty years... all alone._

The spirit sighed, swooping down to land beside the trunk of an ancient oak. It wanted to go back into the world, to feel the earth beneath its feet, the air whistling past its skin, the warmth and power of the sun's fire... the sweet, gorgeous waters of the ocean surging around it, even just for a few fleeting moments... But it couldn't. It was stuck here. For whatever reason, the cycle had been interrupted, and until it was fixed, it was doomed to remain in purgatory. The spirit sighed again, wishing it could fly above the trees and see the world it had left behind.

_"And who says you cannot do that?"_

A wisp of air brushed past the spirit's shoulder, making it jump and look up in surprise. There before the spirit stood another ghost, outlined in sunset red. It was... a familiar face, as if the spirit had once known this man before... but which life was it in? There were so many... it was hard to fixate on only one lifetime's memories.

 _"Don't recognize me, do you?"_ The spirit let out a low chuckle. _"Fear not. You knew me when you were called Aang, the last Avatar the world had seen. I helped you talk to Avatar Roku in the fire temple, many long years ago."_

The spirit gasped, a sudden wave of realization washing over it. He couldn't be... was this man really Shyu, the fire sage who had betrayed his companions to save Aang's life?

 _"I see the look of remembrance on your face,"_ Shyu said with a wry smile. _"Worry not, Little spirit. Your time to enter the world has come once again... your days of unease and lonlieness are ending at last."_ Shyu swept his arm out to point to a hazy figure in the distance. _"This will be your new form, brave hero. From this day on, you shall be known as Avatar—"_

Before Shyu could finish, the spirit dashed excitedly towards the figure of the human child that Shyu had named. It didn't care what it would be known as, nor what type of bender it was going to be. It quickly wormed its way inside the human, struggling to contain its excitement. It was free! It would finally be back out in the world! It would be born again—

The spirit paused.

 _This one? This human...?_ it thought, a small frown creasing it's ghostly face.

_That's... peculiar. It seems a little against the rules.._

_Hmm. Shyu is a strange one._

_Still... perhaps this may just work._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura gets busted for wearing herself out by an old childhood friend, and the two of them wander around town for a while. They eventually stop and spot something that unpleasantly reminds them of the war that has lingering scars on the air tribe’s people.

_Relax. Feel the wind against your skin. Shift your weight through the movements._

Allura took a step forward, her vibrant eyes closed tight in concentration. _Stay calm_ , she told herself, fighting to steady her rapid heartbeat. Slowly, she moved her arms to the side, leaning into her carefully timed body movement.

 _Focus on your source_ , she thought. _Stay calm and centered_. The airbender took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly in an attempt to relax. She stood still for a heartbeat longer, then whipped around, palms flat as she aimed a blast of air directly at the surface of a nearby boulder. She opened her eyes, expecting to see it rolling away, but the rock stayed solidly rooted in place.

 _What's going on?_ Allura frowned, staring at the rock with an expression of bewilderment. This was... strange, to say the least. Why was it not moving? It usually didn't take much effort to move something with her bending, even if it happened to be a huge boulder. She stepped closer to the rock, trying to push the wind forward harder, but it remained cold and unmoving.

 _Don't get angry_ , she thought, gritting her teeth as she suppressed a flare of irritation. _There must be a logical explanation to this. Use your head, Allura._

Pushing away her thoughts of resentment, she cocked her head to the side and peered closely at the base of the boulder. It didn't look like any of the rocks surrounding it were preventing it from moving, and the ground it lay upon was relatively flat. It had to be something else, something she couldn't see... But _what_? She couldn't think of anything that would be holding the boulder down.

A sudden flash of movement on the boulder's left side made her whip her head around, eyes opening wide in alarm. Had she... seen that correctly? She thought she'd caught a glimpse of an arm lashing out from behind the rock, but... that didn't seem very likely. Who would be stupid enough to stand behind the boulder she was clearly trying to move? If they couldn't defend themself, they'd be blown away by her bending, and probably end up impaled on a rock at the base of a cliff somewhere. Unless the other person happened to be an airbender as well... but that still left the question of who, and why?

The realization hit her like a lightning bolt. _The village children!_ They'd been known to follow the lead of a young airbender named Oboro, who ran around the eastern air temple causing as much trouble as she possibly could. It was highly likely that some of them were working together to counter Allura's bending and hold the rock in place just to mess with her. With an amused smile on her face, the princess stood back, releasing her grip on the wind and letting her hands drop back to her sides. She shook her head in mock disapproval. "Come on out, you sneaky little airbender," she purred. "I can see you over there."

For a long, silent moment, the person behind the boulder didn't move. There was a soft, nearly inaudible sound of something shifting their weight; and then with a sudden blast of hot air, something dashed out from the safety of the rock, barreling straight towards Allura. Before she could think to move, the person threw their shoulder against hers, sending her crashing to the ground with a startled shout. Her amusement quickly turned to confusion as she glanced frantically around the training area, a million questions whirling through her head. Who was this person? What did they think they were doing, attacking the princess of their own tribe?

Panic flared through Allura as the wind around her suddenly began to blow faster, picking up the thin layer of sand that lined the floor of the training room. _They’re making a sandstorm,_ she realized, a flicker of hope lighting inside her. _Evasive maneuvers, you know this_ , she thought, forcing herself to steady her breathing. _Father does it all the time, thinks it makes him look clever._

Allura clenched her hands into fists. _Unfortunately, that's not quite clever enough._

The princess shut her eyes, straining her ears to listen for the sound of her attacker's footsteps. He was stomping around quite carelessly, she reflected, putting far too much faith in the idea that the sandstorm had made her completely lose sight of him. Slowly, carefully, she raised her hands, remaining still as the other airbender moved closer to her.

_A few more steps... just a little closer..._

_And... NOW!_

Once her foe was nearly upon her, Allura leapt to her feet, causing her attacker to let out a shout of surprise and stumble backwards. She flung her arms out, twisting the air to take control of the sandstorm and deposit the vortex of grains back onto the ground. The dust settled on the earth floor, and for a moment, it seemed as if the world had gone silent. Had her attacker retreated? It didn't seem likely, given that she had only barely retaliated. And yet... everything seemed so still. She couldn't even hear the other person's breath anymore.

A faint, sudden cough sounded from behind her. "Impressive as usual, princess," a voice murmured, breaking the moment of muted tension at last.

Allura whirled around, every muscle in her body instantly poised to attack. She pulled her arm back as she spun, readying a stream of air behind her knuckles to give her hit extra power. Her fist connected solidly with the chest of her attacker, causing them to cry out in a mixture of pain and surprise. They flew backward, slamming into the wall of the training room with a loud thud. Allura dropped into a fighting stance, her eyes narrowed as she watched her attacker clumsily stumble to their feet. Now that she had a good look at them, she could tell it was a male, but beyond that she couldn't recognize them. "Who are you?" she asked, her curt voice bouncing off the curved stone walls. "You'd better have a good excuse for attacking your own princess, or my father will—"

"Relax, Allura." The man turned around, holding his hands up in mock surrender. A wave of realization slammed into her as an all-too-familiar smile crept onto his face. "It's just me. Nobody's trying to hurt you."

" _Shiro_?!" Allura gasped. She couldn't believe it. What in the name of the ancients was he _doing_ here? No, never mind that— she couldn't let him see her like this! Shiro would kill her if he knew what she'd been up to lately. She had to get him out of here, _fast_.

 _Say something!_ she screeched inwardly, her heart pounding as Shiro started to open his mouth. "Um— why are you not at your post?" she blurted out, a desperate attempt to stop him from asking the question she knew was coming. "You know the rules. You are not to abandon your guard duties, no matter the situation, unless your commander gives you leave to do so," she recited, putting on her best formidable-angry-face.

"You make it sound like you don't want me here," Shiro said, chuckling lightly. "Believe me, I know the rules as well as you do. It's just that I heard you were coming here again today, so I asked your father if I could stop by to make sure you aren't overworking yourself." He smiled again, though this time there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. Allura met his gaze, unsure of what to say. Part of her felt guilty for making him worry about her, but at the same time, she kind of wanted him to shut up and go away. It was careless of him to abandon his guard duties; he _knew_ that, and yet here he was, standing in front of her with the nerve to _smile_ like it was no big deal.

Yeah, she wasn't going to  let him get away with that.

"That's... sweet of you, but why would you do that?" Allura spoke slowly, choosing each word with care. "I'm just trying to hone my bending skills a bit more, so I, er..." She trailed off, unable to hold Shiro's gaze. It was only half a lie, but it made her guilt twist and burrow deeper into her. "I-It's nothing, Shiro. Don't worry about me," she stammered, forcing a smile across her dark face.

"I'm sure that's what you want me to think, but I know you better than that," Shiro murmured. "Allura, I think you should know that everyone's worried about you. With everything that's happening, you really shouldn't be wearing yourself out by—"

"I am _not_ wearing myself out," Allura interrupted, even though that was exactly what she was doing. By the ancients, why wouldn't he take the hint and go away? "I'm just trying to become better at being an airbender. Is that so wrong?" she demanded, her voice an ice-cold hiss.

Shiro didn't seem bothered by that in the least. "Ordinarily, no, it wouldn't be wrong," he replied calmly. "But considering the fact that this place is where you've been spending all of your time lately? I think you may need a distraction." He lifted Allura's chin up, forcing her to stare into his dark, unreadable eyes. "Something other than making yourself so tired you forget to be worried."

Allura winced. She had known that this would happen eventually; Shiro was pretty much the only friend she had, and he knew her better than anyone else in the air tribe. It was only a matter of time before he caught on to what she was doing. Still... she thought she had been doing a good job of hiding her true intentions from him. Whatever the case, she supposed it didn't matter. She wasn't going to stop her training, whether the whole tribe knew the truth or not.

"I'm sorry, Shiro, but that's not happening," she growled, keeping her voice cold. "I'll take a break when I'm done for the day." She turned around and tried to walk away, but Shiro caught her by the arm in the middle of her dramatic exit.

"Allura." Shiro pulled her back towards him, his voice taking on a pleading tone. "Just listen to me, all right? You need to at least rest for a bit. I don't care if it's with me or not, but you can't keep doing this all day."

"I most certainly can, and I most certainly will." Allura shook him off angrily, lowering herself into a fighting stance. Who did he think he was, telling the princess of the air tribe what she could and couldn't do? She wasn't about to give in to him just because he'd asked her nicely. "Do us both a favor and let it go," she spat. "You're wasting your time here."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Am I?" he asked, a soft smile spreading across his lips. "You're at least listening to what I'm saying. That's more progress than anyone else has made, right?" There was a knowing undertone to his voice, and though she hated to admit it, he was right— she hadn't even bothered to pay attention to any of her other tribe members who'd stopped by asking her to take a break.

 _This idiotic boy..._ Allura turned her face away from him, her cheeks tinted with a faint pink. "So what if it is?" she snapped. "Just because I'm listening to you doesn't mean I'll do what you say."

"No... but it's a start." Shiro gently laid a hand on her shoulder, his expression changing to one of concern. "Please, Allura... I just want you to try and relax for a little bit. I'm— I mean— everyone is really worried about you."

Allura slowly turned her head to look up at Shiro, guilt trumping over her annoyance. She knew she was worrying a lot of people— her father's closest friend, Coran, would always lecture her about taking better care of herself— but somehow, knowing that she was worrying Shiro as well made her feel infinitely more guilty. She couldn't say why, but something about the way he was looking at her made the words of defiance she wanted to say catch in her throat. She let out a soft sigh, lowering her gaze to the ground in defeat. "I know they're worried," she murmured sadly. "And I know you are, too, but I didn't— I never meant to hurt anyone. Especially not you."

For just a heartbeat, Shiro's eyes seemed to brighten up, but they returned to their usual dull gray so quickly Allura wondered if she had just imagined it. The male offered her a small smile, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder in a gesture of affection. "So you'll relax, right?" he asked, a painfully obvious note of hope in his voice. Shiro was usually excellent at putting on a calm face and hiding his true emotions, but for some reason he seemed to have lost that skill as of late. Either that or he was more worried about her than he'd let on...

Allura sighed again, nodding a silent agreement. Sometimes she wondered if Shiro had never lost the six-year-old aspect of his personality. The male beamed at her. "Then come on. Let's go and find something relaxing to do."

————

Around thirty minutes later, Allura was starting to feel the exact opposite of _relaxed_.

She and Shiro had been wandering around the air temple for a while now, passing the street vendors and watching the village children as they raced around on whirling balls of air, laughing and talking together as if absolutely nothing was amiss. It seemed like Shiro was trying to get her to bury her worries and fears beneath a facade of happiness, to force her to appear calm and poised as she usually was. Well, all right, maybe he was only trying to make her _forget_ about her troubles, but she knew she couldn't show that she was still extremely upset. So in a way, he was parading her around the village, forcing her to put on a smiling, carefree mask.

Allura discovered she rather hated it.

"Hey, look at that!" Shiro had come to a sudden halt, his voice taking on a tone of excitement. He raised one of his burly arms and pointed to something in the distance, out of Allura's line of sight. She paused beside him and raised herself up on the tips of her toes, trying to get a glimpse of what he was looking at. _What does he see?_ No matter how she strained her eyes, she still couldn't figure out what he was pointing to.

She let out an annoyed huff and dropped her heels back to the ground, scowling all the while. "I don't see anything..." She looked sideways at Shiro, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Are you trying to trick me?"

"No, I'm being serious!" Shiro turned his head and frowned down at the princess. "How can you not see that? It's something red, right over the main village entrance..." He shook his head slowly. "Whatever it is, it's _big_. I don't see how you could miss it."

"Maybe I can't see it because your big honking torso is in my way," Allura snapped. She stepped closer to him, putting her hands on his shoulders and using them as an anchor to push her head up above his. She felt Shiro tense and let out a strangled cry beneath her, but she ignored it. If he was uncomfortable, _well then too bad_ , because he was the one standing in her way in the first place.

" _Allura_!" Shiro's voice sounded kind of weird, like he was embarrassed about something. "What the hell are you doing?! Get _down_!"

"If you wanted me to get down, you should have moved to let me see." Allura stubbornly pushed herself up a bit higher, leisurely looking around for whatever 'red thing' Shiro had been going on about.

Shiro squeezed his eyes shut tightly. "I'm sorry," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Now please, get down!"

So it _was_ making him uncomfortable. She would have felt bad for him and gotten off like he'd asked her to, but he'd been bothering her all day long. So now it was her turn to exact revenge.

"Why?" the princess asked, smirking as she looked down at the top of Shiro's head. "I quite like it up here. Nice breeze and everything, and a gorgeous view, too..."

"Because you'll fall off and hurt yourself," Shiro answered matter-of-factly. He remained very still, which seemed strange. Normally if Allura was bugging him, he would lightly shove her away or flick her forehead to reprimand her. But he wasn't moving at all— actually, he'd gone completely still the moment her skin came in contact with his. It almost seemed like he was afraid to move, but she couldn't think of any reason why he would be scared of that...

The sound of the watchman's warning horn spared her from having to find an answer. The airbenders exchanged a startled glance, their eyes wide. The warhorn was almost never blown, not unless it was a complete and utter emergency. So why was it blaring now? Allura didn't understand... but judging by the look of pure horror on Shiro's face, he knew something she didn't. Slowly, she dropped down from his back, her eyes conveying the question she could not put into words.

"Allura," Shiro breathed, sounding uncharacteristically afraid. "Those red things I saw... I get it now. They rippled and moved with the wind."

If Allura could have ran away and never heard what he told her next, she would have, over every mountain and river in the world. But she couldn't escape it, not when he was this close to her, and not when she was this desperate to hear it.

"Princess... those things were _flags_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge loses her shit, Rax is an ass, and a giant lion goes on the loose. Totally normal day in the Earth Kingdom.

It was a bright, beautiful day, without a cloud in the sky to stop the sun from shining down hotly on the rocky soil of the Earth Kingdom, and Pidge absolutely hated it.

It was way too damn bright, and besides that, the sun freaking _hurt_. It burned her pale skin as easily as fire melted ice, and to make things even worse, if she was out for too long it made her break out in freckles. She would almost rather be locked in a room filled with scorpions than spend one more goddamn minute out here in this scorching heat.

"Pidge! Are you just going to stand there and daydream all day?!" a voice demanded, breaking the teen out of her thoughts. She immediately perked up, blinking rapidly to clear the haziness from her vision. Who was shouting at her? She couldn't see very clearly; sunbeams danced off the lens of her glasses, cloaking most of what she could see in a blanket of white light.

"Hey, dimwit!" Something made contact with the side of her head as the voice sounded again, causing her to yelp in a mixture of surprise and pain. "Are you listening?" As the person was speaking, a young girl with short black hair stepped into Pidge's limited line of sight, her amber eyes blazing with hostility. "We're supposed to be patrolling the boundaries! Have you forgotten that already? Geez, you're such a pain!"

"I haven't forgotten anything!" Pidge snapped, bristling with anger. She raised a hand to the side of her head where she had been hit, flinching as she felt something wet dripping down her cheek. Drawing her hand away, she glared at the other girl for a moment before looking down to see what was on her face.

 _No fucking way_ , she thought, her eyes widening as she saw that her hand was covered in a bright, thick red liquid that could only be blood. She lightly ran a finger down the side of her face, feeling anger beginning to stir inside her as she realized how large the wound was. "Did you just throw a fucking _rock_ at me?" She spoke quietly, but her voice held an air of poorly disguised hostility.

Even so, the other girl didn't seem to be the least bit afraid. "Big deal," she scoffed, rolling her eyes as if she was already bored of their conversation. "It was just a pebble. It isn't my fault your skin is so easy to tear open!" The girl paused to let a wry smile creep across her face. "Maybe that's why your precious dad went missing— he got a papercut and bled out somewhere in the Water Kingdom!"

Pidge recoiled slightly, feeling herself tense up in a mixture of anger and surprise. Did... did she hear that right? Did this girl seriously have the nerve to talk about her family like that?

 _Oh, no_. Pidge curled her hands into fists, surrendering herself to the feeling of rage that stirred up in her gut. _Nobody who talks about my family like that is gonna be left to live!_

Barely pausing to think, Pidge slammed her foot onto the ground in front of her. A huge, spiky mass of rock suddenly burst out of the earth, right underneath the other earthbender's feet. The black-haired girl let out a screech as she flew backward from the force of the sudden impact, landing hard against the base of a boulder a yard or so away. Her head hit the rock with a sickening _thud_ as she collapsed against it, a thin line of blood trickling out of her nose. Brown eyes shimmering with anger, Pidge started towards the other girl, her hands raised as she readied another attack.

"Pidge, what the hell?!"

A voice from behind her made the girl halt and spin around, her face set in a furious scowl. Her eyes landed on the form of a tall teenage boy with a thick build and a round, worried face. His black hair was tied back with a headband to keep it out of his golden-brown eyes, which were wide with fear as he gazed at the small girl. "What are you _doing_?" he demanded, running over to her side. "Have you lost your mind? Rax will kill you if—"

Pidge cut him off with a snarl. "Shut up!" As she spoke, she reached out and shoved the boy in the chest with all her might. It didn't do any good, though; it kind of felt like she was pushing a wall. He stayed firmly rooted in place, not even swaying from the force of her impact. Gritting her teeth, she took a step forward to try again, but he caught her wrists before they made contact with him.

" _Pidge_ ," he began, clearly making an effort to stay calm. "I heard what she said, and I know you're mad, but you can't just attack your tribemates like that!" He hesitated, then gently laid a hand on the young girl's shoulder. "I won't say I know what you're going through, but you know I'm here if you need to talk..."

"For the last time, I don't need to talk about anything," Pidge growled, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. "I think I'm coping just fine on my own, _thanks_."

"Really? Then what was that meltdown you had just now?"

Pidge stayed silent, a scowl creeping its way across her face. Okay, so _maybe_ he had a point. But that didn't mean she had to back down. She lowered her gaze, staring angrily at the ground beneath her feet. "It wasn't a meltdown," she muttered, kicking at a pebble wedged in the soil. "She had that coming to her."

"Is that how it is?" Hunk raised an eyebrow at Pidge, his voice disbelieving. "She deserved to get flung into a rock? Would she still deserve it if she got some kind of brain damage from that?"

Pidge's eyes flashed with renewed anger. "She picked the fight! She was making fun of my family!"

"And you let her get a rise out of you," Hunk reminded her quietly. "I would be pretty angry too if someone said something like that to me, but you can't lose your temper and attack someone out of the blue like that."

"I can do as I please," Pidge muttered, but the anger had died out inside of her. She sighed heavily and pressed her hands against the sides of her head, digging her fingers deep into the roots of her hair. "I can't believe she said that," she mumbled, making an effort to keep her voice steady. "I don't even know who she is."

"Regrettably, I do." Hunk raised his head to look over at the girl's body, still laying slumped against the boulder. "Her name is Anju— she mostly keeps to herself, but she's pretty cruel when she has to be around other people. She likes rubbing salt in wounds and stuff like that..." He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know why. Maybe she thinks it'll get everyone to leave her alone."

Pidge scoffed and raised her chin, following Hunk's gaze. "Doesn't give her an excuse to say shit like that," she growled. "Fucking with people doesn't get you anywhere."

"Pidge!" Hunk's eyes widened, one hand flying up to cover his mouth. " _Language_!" he cried, looking genuinely horrified that the small girl had said such a brutal word. It was kind of adorable, the way his face went pale and how his eyes looked like dinner plates. And yes, it _maybe_ cheered Pidge up a little. Enough to make her smile, at least.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, keeping her gaze fixed on the ground. "I shouldn't have done or said that... I just— I don't know what came over me. I didn't know what I was doing." A hot wave of shame swept over her as she spoke, turning the tips of her ears a rosy pink color. It sounded like she was just making lousy excuses, even to her own ears— and yet it was true. She'd really had no idea what she was doing until Hunk had snapped her out of it.

To her relief, Hunk didn't press the matter any further. "Well, you know now," he pointed out, "and that means you have to own up to it." Hunk nodded at Anju's unmoving body. "We should take her back to the city and see if she's okay."

" _We_?" Pidge's eyes lit up with a flash of hope. "You mean you'll go with me? You'll help me tell them it was a weird accident? Oh, thank you so much! We could say she tripped and rolled off a plateau, or maybe that we were fighting off those spider things—"

"Hey, slow down!" Hunk threw his hands up beside his head, his eyes shooting wide open. "I never offered to help you _lie_! I just meant I'd go with you so you didn't have to face whatever punishment you get all by yourself!"

"Oh, don't be a sissy!" Pidge crossed her arms and glared at Hunk, although she probably didn't look very scary given she was almost two feet shorter than him. "Would you really rat me out to Rax? Your _best friend_?" She widened her eyes as she spoke, doing her best impression of a puppy-dog face.

"W-Well, I mean, l-lying isn't good and all that, and if Rax found out we lied t-then we might get in trouble-!" Hunk took a pace back, a shadow of guilt passing over his face. "L-Look, maybe we should just get going! I'm sure he won't be _too_ mad at you!"

Pidge sighed, letting the innocent facade fall from her face. "You're such a coward," she grumbled. "You're always scared of something, no matter what we do."

"I am not _scared_!" Hunk protested, his voice rising in indignation. "Unlike some people, I just don't think lying is a good thing!"

This time it was Pidge who raised an eyebrow. "So, not in any case at all? You'd tell someone they were ugly if they asked you if they were pretty? Or you'd tell someone they sucked at drawing if they showed you a picture and asked what you thought of it?"

"Well—!" Hunk's face flushed, his gaze farting around the rocky landscape as if searching for some way to escape the conversation. "M-Maybe not, but that's a little different, isn't it?" He ran a hand through his black hair nervously. "That's kind of just being rude, isn't it?"

Pidge smirked, feeling a surge of satisfaction wash over her. She'd managed to back him into a corner, yet again. Maybe it wasn't too hard to win at word games with Hunk, but it was still funny to see him stutter and stumble over his words. "I thought lying was a rude thing to do," she chirped. "But now you're saying telling the truth is rude, too. So why don't we do the _less_ rude thing and make a compromise— we tell Rax _some_ of the truth."

Hunk hesitated, his golden eyes still shining with worry. "I don't know... what if someone saw what happened? What if someone's listening to us right now? What if they're just waiting for us to stop arguing and then they'll jump out and—"

The teen rolled her eyes, lifting her arm and socking Hunk square in the shoulder. "Stop worrying," she snapped. "It'll be fine. The earth kingdom isn't like the fire nation— there's not spies everywhere listening to every word you say."

Hunk was quiet for a few heartbeats before he finally answered. "All right," he agreed, though something in his voice was tinged with regret. "We can tell him it was an accident. But we're still saying you did it— and you're gonna help me carry Anju back, too."

Pidge grinned. "Deal," she replied, taking one of his large hands and shaking it— and for the first time that day, she saw Hunk give her a genuine smile.

It took a while, but the two of them managed to half-carry, half-drag Anju back to the city of Ba Sing Se, the place both earthbenders called home. It was extremely vast, spanning most of the continent that encompassed the Earth Kingdom's territory. It was the city where the king lived, holding a variety of people from wealthy land-owners to poor beggars on the streets. Pidge desperately wanted to explore it, to search every nook and cranny and see all the landmarks and animals she'd read about... but that was a dream, at best. She'd never even been outside the city before.

"Well, well. If it isn't my two favorite earthbenders," a sneering voice jeered, snapping Pidge out of her thoughts. She stopped walking, feeling her blood turn to ice. That voice sounded like... but it couldn't be...

"Are you just going to stand there and keep your back to me?" A disdainful scoff sounded from whoever was behind her. "That's not very nice. You should show your prince some respect."

Ever so slowly, Pidge turned her head to look over her shoulder. Standing before her in all his egocentric glory was none other than the general responsible for watching over this section of Ba Sing Se, Prince Rax of the Earth Kingdom. His burly arms were crossed over his chest, his yellow eyes narrowed to thin slits of anger. His gaze flicked down to Anju's limp body, still hanging between Hunk and Pidge. "What have we here?" he asked. "Did you two murder that poor girl?"

"No, we didn't," Pidge hissed, struggling to suppress her anger. "She got attacked while we were patrolling the outer walls of the city." She caught Hunk's eye and added, "We didn't have time to do anything before she got knocked out. We brought her back so someone could check up on her."

To her relief, Hunk nodded. "That's right. Yup, totally true," he agreed with a nervous laugh. Pidge shot him a tiny smile, feeling a warm wave of gratitude for the older boy. He wasn't very good at lying, but at least he was trying to help her out.

Rax, however, didn't seem too pleased. "So you're telling me something managed to sneak its way into the city without a single guard noticing?" His scornful yellow gaze swept over the three teenagers before him. "I find that extremely hard to believe.

Pidge opened her mouth to snap a reply back at the prince, but before she could say anything, a loud screech cut her off. A moment later, a familiar figure came hurtling around the corner, her expression wide-eyed and panicked. She ran up to Rax and skidded to a halt beside him, panting as she tried to catch her breath. "Brother!" she gasped, grabbing his arm to steady herself. "Come quickly! The eastern part of the city— it is under attack!"

"What?" Rax abruptly turned around, his expression instantly changing to one of worry as his eyes landed on his sister. "Shay, are you sure? The city guards should have been able to—"

"Of course I am sure! I would not have come to you if I was not!" Shay's eyes flashed with a sudden anger. She let go of her brother and stood up straight, trembling with the effort it took. "If you do not believe me, come and see it for yourself. Please, Rax... we need your help."

Rax hesitated, glancing over at Pidge and Hunk uncertainly. His gaze lingered on them for a long moment before he let out a long, heavy sigh. "All right," he agreed reluctantly. "You two, take Anju to a medical hut, and be quick about it. Once she's safe, meet us by the outer wall. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Pidge replied, biting back a sarcastic retort. She turned around and gave Hunk a small nod. "Come on," she murmured. "If we don't hurry, Rax is gonna throw a bitch-fit."

Hunk's only response was a furious glare, presumably for her use of language. But to his credit, he remained silent, slinging Anju over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He stalked off in the direction of a medical hut, leaving Pidge to scurry after him. "Hey, slow down!" she called, jogging up to the tall boy's side. "You have longer legs than I do, y'know..."

Hunk glanced down at Pidge, his face uncharacteristically taut. "Then hurry up," he countered, flicking his gaze back to the front. "You were the one who said Rax needs us to hurry."

 _What's got him all steamed up?_ Pidge fell back a few paces until she was walking behind her friend, frowning at him as she moved. Hunk was usually never short of temper; he almost always was the voice of reason, someone who hated rudeness and preferred to stay out of fights.

So why was he acting so... _rude_?

Hunk came to an abrupt stop in front of her, causing Pidge to nearly bump into his back. She just barely managed to stop herself, her face dangerously close to Anju's. She bristled slightly and took a step back, glaring at the unconscious girl. Somehow, knowing that Anju couldn't see her made it slightly less satisfying.

"This is a healer's hut, right?" Hunk squinted at the sign hanging above the door, the color almost completely drained from long exposure to sunlight. The letters had almost completely faded away, some of them mere chips of black paint against a grayed-out shadow of what it had once been.

"I think so," Pidge replied, standing on the tips of her toes to see the sign better. "I can make out the word 'herbal,' at least. So it's gotta be some kind of medicine... place... thing."

Hunk turned his head ever so slightly, looking over at his friend with a face startlingly devoid of emotion. "Medicine-place-thing?" he echoed, his voice almost disapproving. "Really, Pidge? That's all you could think to call it?"

Instantly defensive, Pidge scowled and crossed her arms. "Well I don't _know_ what to call it!" she snapped. "What if it's some weird place that sells herbal porn? Like, plant sex toys or something like that? You can hardly call that a doctor's hut!"

To Pidge's surprise (and relief, she supposed), Hunk actually cracked a small smile at her words. "That would be really creepy," he mumbled, sounding a bit more like his usual self. "Imagine walking in there and seeing stuff like that. Only you could think of something so weird and gross."

"Hey, I got you to smile, didn't I?" Pidge let a smug grin spread across her face. "It can't have been that bad of a joke."

Hunk seemed to relax a bit at her teasing, the tension in his shoulders visibly melting away. "I'm sorry," he murmured, shifting his gaze to the ground. "It's just— Every time I see Rax treat Shay like that, I get so... mad. She deserves someone who would actually believe what she says instead of brushing it off, you know...?" His voice trailed away and he let out a sigh.

Part of Pidge desperately wanted to make a snarky comeback, but she had the sense to keep her mouth shut. She simply shrugged and nodded, hoping Hunk would take it as a silent agreement.

Whether he did or didn't, he didn't say anything else about it. Instead, he knocked twice on the shop's wooden door before opening it and walking in with Anju dangling from his back. He reappeared outside a moment later, stretching as the door swung closed behind him. "You ready to go kick some butt?" he asked, a playful twinkle in his eyes.

Pidge let a grin spread its way across her face. "Absolutely," she replied confidently.

Together, the two earthbenders raced down the street, dodging vendors and shoppers alike who seemed to be blissfully unaware of what was going on. Most of them didn't even blink as the duo passed by; in this part of the city, kids running amok and causing chaos was fairly normal.

Before too long, the two rounded a corner and darted into an alleyway closed off on one side by the Great Wall. Barely pausing to break her stride, Pidge jumped onto a pile of crates at the base of the wall, using them to vault up and over it to the other side. She landed in an attack stance, her eyes flicking to and fro as she scanned the plains in front of her for any enemies. A heartbeat later, Hunk landed clumsily behind her, nearly tumbling down the hill before he managed to regain his footing. The other earthbender glanced around, clearly confused. "What's all this trouble they seem to be having?" he asked. "I don't see anything..."

He had hardly finished speaking when a thunderous roar sounded off, alarmingly close to them. The ground shook as huge paws thrummed against the earth, its long claws tearing up the ground in its wake. A huge tail lashed as a magnificent beast sprinted into view, its fangs gleaming in the fading sunlight. The creature had the head and body of a lion, but on its back and legs were the thick, armored plates of an armadillo. It threw back its head and roared again, though this time Pidge could sense something different. It didn't sound angry, really... it kind of sounded more like the huge beast was in pain.

"Hunk," she hissed, keeping her eyes on the beast's giant form. "Run over there and distract it for me. Throw some rocks or something, but don't hit it, all right? I want to try something out." Without giving him time to answer, the small girl took off, keeping low to the ground and hiding behind what little undergrowth there was. She had to get closer to the beast to know for certain if she was right or not.

She crouched down behind an overturned boulder left in the ground destroyed by the beast's paws. She was still a few yards away from it, but this was the closest she could get from a distance. She would have to make do from here.

She squinted at the armadillo-lion, trying to make out what was bothering it. It didn't appear to be limping, and its face looked to be uninjured. Had it been her imagination after all?

She was about to turn and head back to Hunk when something caught her eye. She glanced back to the lion, noticing for the first time how it was flailing its tail around like a windmill. Several large spikes were sticking out of it like spines on a hedgehog.

 _Of course_! Pidge's eyes shot wide open with sudden realization. The armadillo-lion must've gotten in a fight with a boar-q-pine!

_Wait._

If there was a boar-q-pine on the loose, and the city guard wasn't anywhere near the lion...

_Oh, no._

Pidge immediately took off, sprinting towards Hunk as if her life depended on it, which in all honesty, it sort of did. She had to reach him, had to stop him from trying to pick a fight with that lion.

If a hoard of boar-q-pines big enough to overpower an armadillo-lion, then Ba Sing Se was in serious trouble.


	4. Chapter 4

Shiro's heart was pounding so hard he thought it might burst out of his chest.

 

_Fire Nation flags? Here?_

 

After the war, it didn't seem real. He'd been a child when it had finally come to an end, but he could still remember the faces of those he had lost to the Fire Nation's brutal conquest. His mother, his grandfather, his cousins, many a person he could call a friend—

 

 _No_. He shook his head wildly, forcing back a tidal wave of grief. He couldn't think about that now, not when his tribe could be in danger.

 

Not when he could do something to protect everyone this time around.

 

"Shiro?" Allura's usually soft voice cut into his thoughts like a dagger. "Shiro, what do you mean by flags? Why would father feel the need to hoist our banners at a time of peace?"

 

Shiro couldn't bring himself to meet the princess's eyes. "I don't think those are our flags," he answered numbly. "Those are Fire Nation banners."

 

Allura's breath hitched, her hands flying over her mouth as her pretty blue eyes widened in terror. For a moment, she seemed to be frozen in place, rooted to the ground like some kind of statue. "You cannot mean that," she whispered after a long period of tense silence. "They can't be back here. We _won_. They can't possibly be trying to fight us again."

 

Shiro looked down at her silently, painfully aware of how helpless he must have looked. He had no idea what he could do or say to comfort her. ' _Maybe they're_ not _here to fight us_?' Even to his own ears, that sounded like a lie. But what else was he supposed to do? Nothing?

 

With a choked, broken sob, Allura flung herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Shiro's torso. She buried her face in his chest, her small form wracked with violent tremors of fear. Even though neither of them had fought in the war, it was clear that it had left its mark on the both of them. Like Shiro, Allura's mother had died as a result of a brutal fire nation attack near the beginning of the war. He knew exactly what she was thinking— _What if they kill my father too? What if they kill me_?— But he also knew that, right now, they didn't have time for worrying. If they wanted to protect their tribe, they had to act now.

 

Gently, Shiro brushed his fingers through the princess's hair, trying to ignore the sounds of her muffled sobs. "Allura," he began in a low voice, keeping his eyes fixed on the top of her head. "Listen. I know you're afraid, and I know what happened to you the last time you saw the fire nation. But you have to let go of that, at least for now, if you want to save the people you care about. We can't afford to let fear hold us back. Not if we want to prevent more of our tribe from dying."

 

Allura hiccuped and nodded, not seeming to have the strength to speak. Slowly, slowly, her sobs faded away, her tremors stopping with them. She pulled away from Shiro, her dark skin glistening with tears. She was clearly trying her best to mask the panic she was feeling, but hints of it shone through in the way her hands shook, the way she kept glancing around as if someone would pop out and ambush her. It felt like a stab to the chest, being forced to watch the princess break down like this. Part of him wanted to shield her, to protect her from all the pain and sorrow she must be feeling... but it simply wasn't possible to do that, and Allura probably wouldn't thank him for it either.

 

"We're going to the castle, aren't we?" Allura asked quietly, wiping the last of the tears from her pretty face. "To go and protect my father."

 

"And prevent anyone from getting past the gates," Shiro agreed, relieved that her voice wasn't quavering anymore. "That's our first priority."

 

Allura sniffed. "That is _your_ first priority," she muttered. "You cannot find it in you to just protect one person, can you...? You always have to play the hero, saving everyone you make eye contact with."

 

Was that sarcasm in her voice? Shiro eyed the princess warily, one eyebrow cocked in suspicion. Was she... making fun of him? And if she was— didn't she know protecting her was at the top of his list?

 

Before he had a chance to say anything, the warhorn blared again, the suddenness of it nearly making him jump out of his skin. _Move_ , it seemed to say, urging his stiff muscles into action. Acting on impulse, he took hold of Allura's arm and tugged her toward the castle. It wasn't long before she caught on to his message and began running alongside him, her eyes fixed with a burning intensity on the building ahead of her.

 

When they finally skidded to a halt outside the castle's doors, a pair of guards stepped up almost immediately to intercept them. Shiro gritted his teeth, feeling annoyance flare up in his chest. They didn't have time for this! Didn't they realize their tribe was in immediate danger?

 

 _Apparently not_ , Shiro thought, eyeing the guards with disgust when they rooted themselves firmly in his path. He stood up straighter, trying his best to look intimidating, but the men still wouldn't budge. In fact, it almost seemed as if they didn't notice him; their full attention was fixed on Allura, neither one of them sparing him a glance. One of the pair stepped forward, bowing down in a gesture of respect. "Princess Allura," he rumbled, his deep voice resonating off the stone walls. "What a coincidence it is that you have come here. Your father wishes to speak with you in the meeting hall."

 

"What?" Allura visibly recoiled from the man's statement, as if he'd bitten her with his words. "What do you mean he wishes to speak with me? Can't you see that we're being invaded?!" Her tone took on an air of incredulity as she straightened up and added, "You're in no position to deny me entry to my own palace. Stand aside, or I will report this to my father."

 

The second guard cleared his throat. "Princess, you misunderstand us. We are not denying you entry to the castle; we simply wish for you to wait in the meeting room first, until your father is ready to come and speak with you."

 

Allura's menacing gaze flicked to the other guard for a moment. Slowly, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, staying silent for a long moment. "Fine," she muttered, clearly struggling to keep her voice calm. "Take us to the meeting hall, then. But first," she said, opening her eyes again to address the both of them, "take word to my father and tell him that his daughter requests him to hurry."

 

"Y-Your Highness, I'm not sure if he would take too kindly to—"

 

"Do I make myself clear?" Allura's voice sounded colder than pack ice. "Do it, or I will have to inform him that you openly refused to obey orders."

 

The guards exchanged a nervous glance, clearly unsure of who's orders they were supposed to obey— their King's, or their Princess'? Disobeying either one could get them into trouble, but in the end, neither one could stand up to Allura's ice-cold stare. "V-Very well," the first guard stammered, his voice sounding high-pitched and strained. "We will go speak with him... and then return to carry out your father's wishes."

 

"Then go," Allura snapped. The guards bowed hastily to her before they turned and began to run towards the castle's right entrance, clearly eager to get away from her.

 

"Gods, Allura," Shiro breathed, staring at the princess in disbelief. He'd never seen her this angry before, even though he was almost always at her side. She was never that cold or cruel to anyone, not even convicted criminals. Which only made what had just happened even more confusing.

 

Allura didn't answer him right away. Her attention was still fixed on the guards, her dark ears twitching ever so slightly. She seemed to be focused on something he couldn't see, listening to something he couldn't hear. Which, to be fair, he probably couldn't— the Air Tribe's royalty had wickedly enhanced strength and senses.

 

"Shiro," she murmured after a slight pause, her words laced with a strange emotion he couldn't quite put a name to. "If I told you to follow me, would you do it?"

 

Shiro blinked, slightly taken aback by the odd question. What did she mean by that? Was she asking him if he'd support any decision she made, or was she literally asking him to follow her somewhere?

 

He didn't have to think very long before he realized that the answer to both of those questions was the same.

 

"Of course I would," he told her, picking his words carefully in order to stop himself from saying something he'd regret. He wanted to say he'd follow her anywhere, everywhere, whatever she wanted him to do, that he would rather be at her side than anywhere else in the world, that he'd blindly trust anything she said... that he never, ever wanted to let her out of sight.

 

But the princess clearly saw him in a different way.

 

He felt his heart melt as she turned to face him, a soft, warm smile written across her face. Gently, she took his hands in her own and squeezed them. "You're the best friend a girl could ask for," she whispered, her eyes shining with mingled happiness and relief.

 

Shiro could almost feel his heart dropping. Friend. The word felt like a slap in the face no matter how many times she said it. But he let a smile cross his features all the same, forcing down the bitter resentment coiling in his stomach. "I think you're being too nice," he teased. "I'm just a regular guy."

 

_A regular guy who could never mean anything to you._

 

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Allura shot back, "because that is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard you say." She released his hands and took a step back, flicking her gaze over to where the guards had disappeared around a corner of the castle walls. "Now," she added briskly, "we are most certainly not going to wait out here like sitting ducks for my father to arrive."

 

"Oh?" Shiro raised an eyebrow at the princess. "Then what are we going to do?"

 

"We're going to follow those guards," Allura replied grimly, "and find out exactly where my father is."


End file.
